Leah Clearwater

I accompany my husband, Michael Yates, to a stationed assignment on a remote island. Out at sea, a sudden storm hits. The ship capsizes and begins to sink. As the commanding officer, my husband gives the last life vest to his so-called godsister, Naomi Hollister. I don't cry or scream. I just watch silently as he carefully fastens the straps around her body. In my past life, I had clutched my pregnant belly and begged him for help. After a brief hesitation, he finally put the vest on me. But Naomi was swept away by the waves, and her body later washed up on shore. Only half of it remained. Michael insisted it wasn't my fault. He also said that saving me was his duty, both morally and professionally. He even took leave to stay by my side before I gave birth. But when my water broke in the dead of night, he pushed me into the sea. His eyes were bloodshot and burning with hatred. "Leah, if it weren't for you, Mimi would still be alive! Did you really have to force me to give you the vest when you were just pregnant? Couldn't you have waited a little longer? Why do you get to live? Go down there and die with her!" I drown, and fish tear my body apart. I die without even a full corpse left behind. And then, I open my eyes. I'm back on the day of the storm.

Nothing is ever going to be the same again. In a way I am glad, changes needed to be made, but for the people we have lost, there are some wounds that will never heal. My mate comes behind me and wraps me in a tight embrace. We have never been this close before. It feels like everything in the world, except the Goddess, has kept us apart. Let me step back. My name is Leah and I am the only daughter, only child of Alpha Benjamin of the Crescent Moon pack. We're a part of a cooperative pack alliance called the Concordat. I know, it's as pretentious as it sounds, note my eye roll here. All of our Elders got together years ago to come together for protection and to ensure the survival of our race. Our Concordat, yep say it as snooty as you can, was made up initially of 10 packs in the shadow of a vast mountain range. This alliance worked exactly as it was designed for about 5 generations. But the Elders became set in their ways and used to certain comforts. They stopped participating in regular pack training, only including themselves high rank training of the Alphas and Betas and begrudgingly dealt with the Lunas at the compound. Males were taught they were superior simply being male, not for any other show of merit. Women were seen, and that was only if dressed properly, and to produce strong male heirs. My father did not believe in females being lesser, so he trained me well from the time I could walk. I trained in secret, learning skills on and off the field. Let me take you on my journey through love, loss and truly knowing what it means to be a friend, lover, mate, leader and enemy.

As I approached Alpha Blake, he turned to face me with a solemn expression. His eyes, which used to be filled with love and adoration for me, were now cold and distant. I felt a pang of worry in my chest, but I pushed it aside, thinking it was just nerves. "Alpha Blake," I said softly, smiling up at him. "Hello, Sophia," he replied curtly. I frowned slightly, wondering what was wrong. But before I could ask, Alpha Blake turned to the crowd of werewolves gathered around us. "Thank you all for coming here today to witness the engagement ceremony of Sophia and myself," he said, his voice booming across the clearing. There were cheers and applause from the crowd, but I couldn't concentrate on anything except Alpha Blake's strange behavior. Something was off, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. "However," Alpha Blake continued, his tone serious now. "I have come to a difficult decision. As the Alpha of the Night Walker pack, it is my duty to ensure the survival and prosperity of our kind. And with that in mind, I have decided to break off my engagement to Sophia." My heart dropped to my stomach, and I felt tears prickling at the corners of my eyes. This can't be happening. Alpha Blake couldn't possibly be breaking up with me. We were meant to be together forever. "I have instead chosen Leah, Sophia's stepsister, as my mate," Alpha Blake announced. Sophia is heartbroken at that moment that Alpha Blake, chooses her stepsister over her. Devastated, Sophia decides to start a new life in a different country, and that is where her worst nightmare started from because she get a job in her pack's biggest enemy company, Alpha Derick Mondragon. She was mistreated to the last drop...